Relief washed over me so forcefully that the edges of my vision darkened. “Jesus. Thanks for the heart attack, guys.” I punched Jenner’s arm. “And since when have you been reading romance novels?”
His brown eyes sparkled mischievously. “What can I say? The girl can write some good porn.”
Braxton snatched my phone from Jenner, tapping on the screen. “Fuck, Maddox.”
“What?” I tried to play innocent.
“The Hartford exchange on the number is hard to miss. What the hell happened? Because the last time I checked, Bristol was not at all interested in you, and now she’s sending you dirty messages, which I can only assume are meant to get you into bed.”
“Would it help if I said I wasn’t going to give her what she wants tonight?” I asked hopefully.
“No, because that girl will get what she wants. If not tonight, another one. And because I know you’re interested, it’s only a matter of time.” He sighed. “I get it. She’s young and cute, but if you hurt her, I’ll be forced to take out your good knee.”
Jenner leaned over to stage-whisper, “I think he’s serious.”
“Fuck off.” I nudged his shoulder, forcing him back into his seat.
Braxton ran a hand through his hair. “She’s been through a lot.” I opened my mouth to tell him I knew that already, but he continued before I could. “I think it bears mentioning that I lived with Levi Nixon.” Just hearing that fucker’s name had my fists clenched beneath the high-top table. “The way he talked about her behind her back paled in comparison to how he treated her.”
Through gritted teeth, I growled, “Should have killed him when I had the chance.”
“And don’t think I’m not grateful for you looking out for her the other night. But you have to remember that Bristol is important to me too. Without her, I wouldn’t have landed the love of my life. So, I have a soft spot for her. I always will. She’s my future wife’s best friend, and she came out to Indy all alone. I’ve taken it as my responsibility to look out for her.”
“I’m not looking to hurt her, Braxton,” I vowed.
Jenner chimed in. “Yeah, he looooooves her.”
“Shut the fuck up!” I whipped around to yell at him, drawing the attention of a few patrons gathered near us.
He shrugged. “Just stating facts. Not my fault you can’t own up.”
Braxton gripped my shoulder, turning me to face him. “Seriously?”
I blew out a breath. “I have feelings for her. I wouldn’t go so far as to categorize them as love.”
“Not yet,” Jenner taunted from behind. “But I’ve seen this show before.”
I bit back a retort asking how well that had worked out for him, knowing it wasn’t his fault his marriage had fallen apart.
Without asking, Braxton grabbed my beer and drained it. Slamming the empty glass onto the table, he huffed out, “I’m gonna need something stronger.”
“You and me both,” I muttered.
Holding up a hand, I signaled a passing waitress, ordering us a round of whiskeys. The only unfortunate side effect was I couldn’t drink the damn liquor without getting hard at the memory of drinking it with Bristol. If we were going down this sexting path, I was going to end up with a raging boner anyway, so what did it matter?
Once the lowball glasses containing two fingers of whiskey each were placed before us, I asked, “Okay, so what should I message back?”
Braxton sipped his drink. “How about we leave me out of this?”
Jenner scoffed. “Whose team are you on?”
A pained groan sounded loudly from our young friend. “Fuck me. I thought I left all that behind in Hartford.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
He dropped his head, explaining, “The girls versus guys teams. It was kinda their thing.”
“Whose thing?”
